By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club honored Sprague’s Ryder Skogstad (Boys Basketball), West Salem’s Mia Piexoto (Girls Swimming), Sprague’s Josh Camillo (Boys Wrestling), South Salem’s Emma Cordero (Girls Basketball) and North Salem’s DJ Ayers (Boys Basketball) for the Week of January 28.

Here’s the press release:

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from Sprague Boys Basketball, is Ryder Skogstad.

Ryder, a senior, plays point guard for the league-leading 5-0 (11-4 overall) Olys. Ryder is averaging 13 points per game in league along with 4 assists per game. Coach Jordan Graneto added, “Ryder has played extremely well throughout the course of the year and has really turned it on now that we are in league play. He is a heady point guard that is really mentally tough. He does the little things that help our team play at a high level and he continues to improve every day.” Coach added that Ryder, “is one of the best on-ball defenders on our team.”

Congratulations Ryder from the Salem Sports and Breakfast Club!

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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from West Salem Girls Swimming, is Mia Piexoto.

Mia is a junior for the Titans. Mia was co-MVP at the Silverton meet earning wins in the 200 IM and 100 Breast. She has the fastest times on the team in those events. At Sprague she won the 100 Breast and got second in the 500 free. Coach Dan Evans added, “She is consistently on the ‘A’ relay teams which are undefeated this season. She is currently the team MVP for the season with the highest point total for the season.”

Congratulations Mia from the Salem Sports and Breakfast Club!

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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from Sprague Wrestling, is Josh Camillo.

Josh is a junior wrestler for the Olys. Josh, who wrestles at 152, went 6-0 at the Oregon Wrestling Classic where he helped Sprague to a fourth-place finish. He pinned 5 of 6 opponents and, according to coach Mike Ritchey “had a quality win” against another wrestler who is ranked in the state.

Josh was also recognized as an SSBC AOTW in June of 2021.

Congratulations Josh from the Salem Sports and Breakfast Club!

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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from South Salem Girls Basketball, is Emma Cordero.

Emma, a senior, plays guard for the 10-4 (4-1 in conference play) Saxons. Last week in an important league matchup at Summit, Emma hit the game winning shot to help the Saxons seal the 63-60 win. For the night she had 5 points, 5 steals, and 3 boards for the injury-challenged Saxons. Coach Adrian Lewis described the final scoring play, “Not a monstrous night statistically but at the biggest moment she stepped up. Halley Barram drove to the middle and Emma was open in the corner. Barram passed her the ball and Emma made the game winning shot.” There was one second left on the clock. He added, “The Saxons were missing a lot of girls to injuries and it was great to see Emma step up big for the Saxons.”

Congratulations Emma from the Salem Sports and Breakfast Club!

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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from North Salem Boys Basketball, is DJ Ayres.

DJ, a senior, plays wing for the 3-5 (in league) Viks. In North’s 69-60 win over West Albany Coach Lane McLeod says DJ “took charge”. DJ scored 22 while grabbing 8 boards. He was also 5 for 10 from beyond the arc for the night.

Congratulations DJ from the Salem Sports and Breakfast Club!